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Alan Faneca drops 100 lbs in retirement

When he was an NFL offensive lineman, Alan Faneca weighed 320 pounds. Two years after retiring, Faneca is down to 220.

The 36-year-old Faneca told FOXSportsArizona.com that he cut way down on his caloric intake as soon as he left the NFL, and as a result he lost weight so rapidly that people were getting worried about him.

“People thought I was sick or something because it was coming off me so fast,” Faneca said. “If you didn’t see me for two weeks, I’d look totally different the next time. It was hell on my closet. I couldn’t buy clothes fast enough. They would just hang on me like drapes.”

Faneca said he hopes other NFL offensive linemen will pay attention to the importance of keeping their weight down to their long-term health.

“Most guys should think about it,” he said. “Especially in this new era of the NFL. Big today isn’t necessarily all muscle. You can you be 340, 350 and still move. But that’s not necessarily healthy, and it’s not going to prolong your life, especially when you’re out of football dealing with post-football injuries.”

Tipping the scales at 300-plus pounds is a necessity if you want to be an NFL offensive lineman, but it’s not conducive to a healthy lifestyle after football. Kudos to Faneca for focusing on his long-term health.

Whenever someone loses that much weight that quickly, they look like crap. Skin has limits to its elasticity, so there is some sag under the arms, around the face, on the belly. He will likely have plastic surgery.

I'm sure he is fine. In the article, Faneca states that he eliminated his daily triumvirate of peanut butter protein shakes which were approximately 1,000 calories each or 3,000 calories a day. By removing that surplus of calories, he would be running an incredible deficit, nearly 1.1 million k/cal per year. A caloric deficit of 3,555 k/cal is required to shed a pound of fat, so that weight came off quick. You wouldn't typically want someone to shed weight that fast, but if he did it by just reducing his caloric intake to fit his new metabolic output, then it was safe and healthy.